Growing Your Own Eggs

It’s called an Easter Egg Plant, and it’s a hybrid variation of the eggplant… yup, that purple vegetable (actually it’s a fruit) that gets used to make Eggplant Parmigiana – one of my favorite dishes.

I’m not sure whether this particular variety is edible or not – eggplant is a member of the Nightshade family, and some of the plants in this family are poisonous – or if it’s used solely for ornamentation (my sources seem to vary on this issue). It certainly makes an interesting conversation piece! According to the information I was able to find, the fruits actually start off white – looking much like a chicken egg – and then as they mature, ripen into various shades of cream, yellow, orange, and even green.

The tradition of dyeing and giving eggs at this time of the year is not limited only to the Christian celebration of Easter… those of us walking the Pagan path use this time to celebrate Ostara – the Spring Equinox – where we also dye and give eggs as a symbol of the birth of new life. Certain sources state that the word Easter itself derives from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Whether or not such information is historically accurate, Ostara is celebrated by many Pagans as one of the eight Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year.

Whether you grow your own eggs, seek them out in the hen house, or buy them from your local supermarket… let us all celebrate this time of year as a reminder of resurrection and rebirth, the beauty of nature, and the ongoing cycle of life.

I believe the confusion stems from the fact that there are varieties of white eggplant that look similar to this plant, which are edible. However, those varieties remain white and do not change color, although they can sometimes take on a greenish tinge, and other varieties have streaks of light purple or lavender in them.

But I do believe that this particular variety – the Easter Egg Plant – is in fact poisonous and is grown as an ornamental only.

Great post, Osh. I agree with Crystal… your creativity shines in your blog, and makes for some truly enjoyable posts.

I’ve never heard about this plant, now I’m curious to know if it exists here in Brazil and under which name. At first I though it was some kind of collage, LOL Gonna ask a plant-addicted friend of mine and tell you about it later.

Happy Ostara to you, Ocean, may you have a bright day and a sweet night with positive vibes. Here I’ll be celebrating Mabon, we follow the Southern Hemisphere Wheel of the Year, and Autumn has just begun. But Lucas is waiting for his Eostre chocolat eggs, of course… 🙂

This is a case where it helps to know the scientific name of the plant, to make sure that you are growing what you want to be growing.

Eggplants are of the genus Solanum, in the family Solanaceae, which includes the Nightshade – a poisonous plant. There are actually several edible plants in this family, including the tomato and the potato.

Solanum melongena is the edible eggplant, which includes some white varieties. Interestingly, they are often considered to be of milder flavor than the darker purple versions.

The Easter Egg Plant is solanum ovigerum, ovi referring to its egglike shape of the fruits. Solanum ovigerum is strictly an ornamental plant, and its fruits are inedible. However, it makes an interesting addition to the garden just to show off to friends, etc.

They are cool plants, but I wouldn’t recommend making parmigiana out of them!

I have had three eggs given to me so I can plant next year but am very confused on if I leave them out all winter then in spring do I crack them open for seeds to plant or do I plant the eggs? Can you help?

The “eggs” are actually the fruit of the plant – these plants are actually a type of eggplant. The eggs are like those purple plants you find in your grocery store… except here they are orange. Do NOT eat these eggs! They are NOT edible and could make you sick.

I’ve never grown Easter Egg Plants, but I have grown purple eggplant, and I would imagine the procedure is the same for both. What you want to do is let your eggs dry out and remove the seeds from inside them, and then plant the seeds next year to grow your own Easter Egg Plants. If I remember, eggplant seeds are small, round, flat, and whitish color. I would assume that Easter Egg Plants are the same.

These plants can be grown in containers, so you might want to think about getting a nice pretty pot to grown them in as an ornamental.

I would suggest that you go ahead and open up your eggs now and scoop the seeds out, separating them from the flesh, and then spread the seeds out on newspaper or paper towels to dry for a few days, somewhere that they can’t be disturbed by pets or children or whatever. Then after the seeds are totally dry, you can put them in a small jar or whatever to store them until next spring.

I would suggest that you start these seeds in a small pot and let them sprout that way, then when the plant gets a little bigger and has started developing leaves, you can then transplant it into your garden or pot or wherever you want to plant it. I usually put two seeds together when I plant them, and then if both sprout, I wait til they get a bit big and then pull up one of them and leave the other to grow. This way I have a better chance of success. You don’t have to do it this way, you can just plant one seed, but it’s just been my habit to plant two and then pull up unwanted plants as needed.

You can also just plant from seed right into the ground or whatever, but you will have to wait a bit longer before you start planting… eggplants are a warm weather plant and don’t do really well in cold weather. They will need a lot of sun and warm soil. If you start your seeds indoors, you can then transplant them once the ground is warm enough.

Do not expect to have “eggs” in time for Ostara or Easter – in spite of the name, these plants generally don’t bear fruit that early, unless you’re lucky enough to live in some really warm place where the growing season starts earlier. Ostara falls in mid-March and Easter will fall in mid-April in 2009, so most likely you will just be getting started with gardening at that time, and if you live in the northern part of the USA, it will still be a bit too cold to transplant them. The only way you could have eggs ready is if you plant the seeds in a pot and keep it indoors, making sure the plant in a warm and sunny spot.

According to mail order magazines the eggs on this plant are eatable. And I have also read that they are a great dish over seas. However the eatable idea remains questionable in the U.S.

I did notice that the flower of this plant appears to be part of the night shade family. Most people consider knight shade to be poison, and I am sure some may be. However there are people that eat night shade in there diet about three times a week. Yes “Potatoes” are a member of the night shade family. But they are said it is not good to be eaten while they are green. But don’t eat the things around the flowers, they are said to be poison.

I have just started some Easter Egg Plants in a container with a bag over them to get them to germinate but every time I try to take the bag off they wilt. Any ideas..I have to keep them indoors for quite sometime yet as I live in Canada. I have them in a sunny window. Please help me I want to grow these so much. I was quite intrigued by the plant I saw in Mexico and knew I wanted one.

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